Victorians will soon benefit from more international flights from Vietnam, with selecting Melbourne to commence its first flights to Australia.
Thanks to support from the Victorian Government and Melbourne Airport, the airline will begin its service from Ho Chi Minh City to Melbourne by April 2023 with three non-stop flights each week, growing to a daily service by December 2024.
VietJet will also establish its national head office in Victoria.
The flights are expected to add more than 136,000 seats to Melbourne each year and generate around $97 million annually for the Victorian economy once fully operational.
VietJet will be the second Vietnamese airline to establish services to Melbourne since the pandemic after Bamboo Airways commenced flights in April 2022.
The flights will add 3,500 tonnes of air freight to Victoria each year. Air freight exports of Victorian products to Vietnam were valued at $113 million in 2021-22, up 77 per cent on the previous year.
Victoria is also a popular tourism and study destination for visitors from Vietnam. Around 9,500 Vietnamese students are currently enrolled at Victorian institutions – one of our largest international student populations.
